


Gifted

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Number The Stars [24]
Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Atlantis, Thoughtcrimes
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 18:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6869308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Thoughtcrimes/Stargate Atlantis/any, Freya McAllister + Teyla Emmagan + any wraith, their telepathy is different."</p><p>(I might have skipped the wraith.)</p><p>Tag to The Gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifted

“Let me talk to her,” Freya said.  
  
Brendan turned to her, his mind buzzing with _Are you insane?_  
  
But Elizabeth was nodding thoughtfully.

Heightmeyer, who’d been informed about Freya’s condition as a matter of her health, nodded as well. “I think that would be excellent.”  
  
Rodney shook his head. “Amita, you’re a great mathematician, and I freely admit you have better people skills than me, but I think this is the kind of conversation better left to Heightmeyer or even Beckett.”  
  
Elizabeth raised her chin and said, “Yes, Amita, please do speak to Teyla as soon as possible.”  
  
Rodney opened his mouth to protest, but Elizabeth adjourned the meeting and dismissed them. Rodney followed Heightmeyer out of the room, protesting. Freya caught Elizabeth’s eye and nodded, then reached up to tap her radio and ask Control to locate Teyla for her.  
  
Brendan caught her just outside of the conference room, dragged her out to the balcony where no one could overhear them. “Freya, you can’t.”  
  
“I have to, Brendan.”  
  
“You’re putting yourself at risk. I can’t let you do that.”  
  
She tugged free from his grip on her elbow. “I’m not a child. We’re partners. You’re not actually my babysitter. And if she doesn’t get a handle on this, we could be putting the entire expedition at risk. I am the only person who knows what she’s facing, what she’s going through. Even though her gift is different from mine, I’m the closest she has to an understanding friend in this situation.”  
  
Brendan licked his lips nervously. “You know the rules -”  
  
“Damn the rules! We’re cut off from Earth. Our best chance of ever getting home to the people we love is finding a ZPM, and we need Teyla on our team and the Wraith off our backs to do it. Now, I’m going to find Teyla.” Freya spun away from him, ignored the mental shouting he directed at her, and radioed control.  
  
Teyla, predictably, was down in the training room practicing with her bantos rods.  
  
Freya stood in the doorway and waited until Teyla finished her routine, and then she cleared her throat.  
  
“Amita, have you come to learn more combat skills?” Teyla brandished her bantos rods meaningfully.  
  
“Ah, no. Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”  
  
“About?”  
  
“About how you’re doing.” Freya smiled gently. “Come take a walk with me.”  
  
“A walk would be very refreshing.” Teyla’s smile was pleasant, but she was wary. Freya waited while Teyla packed up her gear, and then they set off for the transporter, beamed to the nearest part of the city with a section of outdoor balcony, and walked, gazing out at the sea.  
  
“I am doing fine,” Teyla said.  
  
Freya resisted the urge to read Teyla’s thoughts. “Elizabeth told me about your gift.”  
  
Immediately Teyla’s posture became closed off, though her smile remained politely fixed in place. “I see. I had hoped she would respect my desire for privacy -”  
  
“I have a similar gift,” Freya said.

Teyla raised her eyebrows. “You can communicate with the Wraith? In their minds?”  
  
“No. But I can hear people’s thoughts.”  
  
That brought Teyla up short. “All people?”  
  
“All people.”  
  
“At once? Surely that would drive you mad.”  
  
“It did, for a time, until I learned to control it.”  
  
“But you did learn to control it.” Teyla studied Freya, and Freya forced herself to hold up under the examination without looking away.  
  
“It took me a long time, and I needed lots of help.”  
  
“Do you think you can help me?” Teyla asked.  
  
“I don’t know. I can’t do what you do - look into someone else’s mind and see through their eyes. I cannot make others hear me. I can only hear them, and even then only when I look at them and open myself to hearing them.”  
  
Teyla tilted her head. “Are you hearing my thoughts now?”  
  
“I don’t listen in on someone’s thoughts all the time. It’s rude. But if my life is in danger -”  
  
“Have you ever read my mind during Blackjack?”  
  
Freya came up short. “What? No.”  
  
“You’re very skilled at the game.”  
  
“Because I’m a mathematician. Cheating takes all the fun out of a game. We’re playing for skittles and fun, not high stakes.” Freya sighed. “Look, Teyla, I’m telling you this because I think I can help you channel your gift.”  
  
“I can help you too,” Brendan said.  
  
Freya spun around. _What are you doing?_ she mouthed.  
  
“How do you think you can help?” Teyla asked. “Are you also gifted?”  
  
“No, but I am aware of Amita’s gift, and for her benefit I learned to block my thoughts out so she doesn’t hear all of them,” Brendan said.  
  
Freya raised her eyebrows. “Really? There’s a reason Teyla thinks it’s a shame I’ve never found Scooby Dooby Doo, and it’s because you sing it _all the time_ in your head.”  
  
“On the surface, sure.” Brendan shrugged. “Teyla, I know it freaks you out, that the Wraith can hear you as much as you hear them when you connect. But Amita and I can help you. She can help you focus your gift so you can see out the Wraith at will, and I can help you so when you connect with them, they won’t be able to hear you.”  
  
Teyla looked back and forth between them, considering. Finally, she said, “Does this gift and training have anything to do with the way you sometimes call each other Brendan and Freya?”  
  
Freya didn’t need to read Brendan’s mind to know what he was thinking. She had to bite back a string of swear words herself.  
  
“Yes,” she said.  
  
“Why do you call each other by those names?”  
  
Brendan took a deep breath. And then he said, “Because. They’re our real names.”


End file.
